The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Geranium plant botanically known as Pelargonium×hortorum and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name ‘Baldespep’.
The new cultivar originated in a controlled breeding program in Arroyo Grande, Calif. during January 2001. The objective of the breeding program was the development of Geranium cultivars with flower uniformly with attractive flower and foliage coloration and a moderately vigorous, upright growth habit.
The new Geranium cultivar is the result of cross-pollination. The female (seed) parent of the new cultivar is the proprietary Pelargonium×hortorum breeding selection designated GER 2385, not patented, characterized by its single type pink-colored flowers with red spots, medium green-colored foliage, and upright growth habit. The male (pollen) parent of the new cultivar is Patriot ‘Sparkler Red’, U.S. Plant Pat. No. 12,252, characterized by its semi-double type multi-patterned bright red, pink, and white-colored flowers, medium green-colored foliage, and upright growth habit. The new cultivar was discovered and selected as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the above stated cross-pollination during January 2002 in a controlled environment at Arroyo Grande, Calif.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal stem cuttings since January 2002 at Arroyo Grande, Calif. and West Chicago, Ill. has demonstrated that the new cultivar reproduces true to type with all of the characteristics, as herein described, firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of such asexual propagation.